The Gospel and the Deacon

Summary

Christopher Hutchinson, senior pastor of Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Blacksburg, Virginia, asks why the church ordains deacons rather than merely commissioning them, answering those who claim that only elders, who exercise judicial authority, are true officers of Christ.

He builds a theology of office: elders represent Christ as Prophet, Priest, and King in his glory, while deacons represent the same Christ in his estate of humiliation, called to act, sacrifice, and serve as he did.

Drawing on the PCA Book of Church Order’s distinction between the power of jurisdiction, which belongs to elders alone, and the power of order, he argues that mercy ministry is real ecclesiastical power and so warrants ordination. To ordain elders but merely commission deacons would teach the church that word outranks deed and that Christ’s humiliation is past rather than the church’s present pattern.

Excerpt

It is the deacon who best demonstrates the mercy and service of Christ which the elders teach. It is the deacon who thus fills out the Gospel which the elders proclaim. It is the deacon who best reminds us that power in the Church is not to be like power in the world, because true power is first and foremost the power to serve. And thus it is the Gospel which compels us to ordain deacons in the Church so that Christ, our “table-server,” may be seen in all His fullness. We ordain deacons to office so that service is given its proper place of honor next to teaching. That Word and Deed may stand together. We ordain deacons because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ who came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.

The Gospel and the Deacon

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